Weird News

Kidnapped boy rescued with iPad and 'Find My iPhone' app

A quick-thinking Texas dad was able to help cops track down his kidnapped 5-year-old son with an iPad and iPhone, police said.

Houston's KTRX reports that the boy's father left him in his 2001 Ford Expedition when he stopped at a liquor store but took his iPad with him.

When the father returned, his car was gone — and the kid. But he called police and helped guide them to his son, using the "Find my iPhone" app.

Lt. Wayne Schultz of the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable's Office spoke to KTRX following the boy's rescue.

"The father had an iPad that he'd taken in with him and he utilized that iPad with the iPhone that was in the car and was able to track it," he said. "And the information was provided from our deputies to our dispatch, that was able to be communicated through the Harris County Sheriff's Office dispatch also and they were able to get information out to the troops in the field to where we could disseminate information in almost a real-time environment to put it out to guys who were looking for the vehicle with the child in it."

Once the suspect was apprehended, the boy was checked out by medical professionals and determined to be OK. All's well that ends well, but the father may want to reconsider leaving his 5-year-old in the car during future shopping trips.

GPS devices are having a larger role in law enforcement. Earlier this year in South Carolina, a construction manager used a GPS device hidden among stolen building materials to help guide police to the goods. And in Connecticut, a pair of robbery suspects were tracked down by police using the victim's phone's GPS.